UFC's Rashad Evans not heading to middleweight, camp says

Whether intentional or not, former UFC light-heavyweight champion Rashad Evans certainly got fans talking when he said he wanted to “pick a fight” with current middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva following this past Saturday’s UFC 148 event.

Feedback from the MMA community on the matchup was almost universally positive. Most observers said it was one of the few credible matchups currently available to Silva, who’s decimated his division with 10 consecutive title defenses as part of a 15-0 run in the UFC.

It appears Evans was merely caught up in the moment.

“He is just saying he’s not afraid to fight anyone,” Robinson wrote.

Evans met heartache in April when longtime rival and current light-heavyweight champ Jon Jones unanimously outpointed him at UFC 145. The Silva pairing was the first strong indication of a desired fight since Evans’ loss, which snapped a four-fight win streak.

As for what’s next for Silva, several key middleweight matchups may produce the next contender: On Wednesday, Mark Munoz meets Chris Weidman in the headliner of UFC on FUEL TV 4; later this month at UFC 149, Hector Lombard meets Tim Boetsch; and a fight between Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher is expected for UFC 152.